Crevalle Jack
Crevalle Jack (Caranx hippos) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: a prominent black blotch on the rear edge of the gill cover, and a second at the base of the pectoral fin. The look-alike to rule out is Horse-eye Jack: horse-eye have a much larger eye, a yellow tail, and no black blotch at the pectoral base.
Last updated
| Scientific name | Caranx hippos |
|---|---|
| Also called | jack crevalle, common jack, toro |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Jack |
| Temperature | Most active between 70 and 86 °F. |
How to identify a Crevalle Jack
- A prominent black blotch on the rear edge of the gill cover, and a second at the base of the pectoral fin.
- A steep, blunt, almost vertical forehead.
- Heavy bony scutes forming a hard ridge along the rear of the lateral line and the tail base.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Horse-eye Jack | Horse-eye have a much larger eye, a yellow tail, and no black blotch at the pectoral base. |
| Blue Runner | Blue runners are smaller and slimmer with a gently sloped head and only a faint gill-cover spot. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Horse-eye Jack and Blue Runner.
Where it lives
Atlantic and Gulf coasts from the mid-Atlantic through the tropics. Roams beaches, inlets, passes, bridges and backcountry basins in hunting schools, and pushes well up into brackish and even fresh water.
Temperature
Most active between 70 and 86 °F.
The conditions that matter
Crevalle hunt in packs and follow bait rather than structure, so the fish are somewhere different every day. The dependable pattern is moving water through a pass or under a bridge at first and last light, where the tide does the herding for them.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about crevalle jack into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.